


Saying "I Love You"

by tbmd1066



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien's a tragic child, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Nino's the best?? seriously, Platonic Love, hug your friends, y'all should know how I am with hurt/comfort by now lbr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-25
Updated: 2016-01-25
Packaged: 2018-05-16 07:06:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5818951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tbmd1066/pseuds/tbmd1066
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Marinette says something out loud that she shouldn't have, Adrien is left remembering things he doesn't want to. But he's not alone anymore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Saying "I Love You"

Marinette was nice, Adrien thought. Very nice. She was weird though. When Adrien had first met her, he assumed that she was very shy, due to her flustered actions and stuttering and mixed up sentences. But she didn’t act that way towards anyone else. She conversed with perfect ease when talking to Alya or Nino, and she was never afraid to speak her mind to Chloè. She was brilliant and confident, but not around Adrien, and he didn’t get it. 

Maybe she hated him. It was possible, Adrien supposed, but he couldn’t remember ever having given her a reason to hate him. Maybe it was just because he was famous, but then, Chloè was the mayor’s daughter, and should be a lot more famous than he was, and she wasn’t flustered around Chat Noir, who certainly had captivated plenty of attention over the last year or two. Hell, she hadn’t even been nervous around Adrien’s _father,_ and that was quite the feat. So maybe it was because he was a model? Adrien had been told plenty of times that he was good-looking, and while he didn’t want to come off as conceited, he knew that it was true. But once again, she wasn’t nervous around Chat Noir, and they had literally _the exact same face._

It was a mystery. Marinette was a complete mystery, and it bugged Adrien to know that he might never figure it out. Especially since Marinette was getting a lot less nervous around him lately. That didn’t bother him at all, though. He was glad to count her as a friend. He supposed that it might not matter soon.

Nino had been talking with Alya about some movie that was coming out all through their lunch, and Adrien had been listening, trying to tell if Nino was going to actually ask Alya on a date or not. He didn’t. He chickened out by turning to Adrien and asking if he wanted to come. Adrien shook his head ruefully, but said yes. 

Alya looked a little disappointed, but bounced back quickly, and turned to Marinette. “Marinette, didn’t you say that you wanted to go see it?”

Marinette frowned. “Yeah, but I just don’t have the money right now. I’ll just watch it when I can find a version online.”

Adrien didn’t like Marinette’s frown. “If you want to come with us, I don’t mind paying for your ticket. You could get us popcorn?” he suggested.

“That’s really sweet, and I love you, but I’d rather pay for myse—” Marinette froze suddenly with a strangled noise, and Adrien could see a blush climbing from under the collar of her shirt right up to her hairline. 

_I love you._

The mystery was solved. 

Marinette began stammering, but Adrien wasn’t sure what she was saying. His brain had stopped right along with hers and hadn’t quite caught up yet. 

_I love you._

Adrien tried to remember the last time someone had said that and meant it. And then he immediately regretted doing that. He stood up abruptly, interrupting Marinette.

“Sorry, excuse me.” 

Adrien didn’t run to the bathroom, but he did hurry, trying not to look at anyone as he felt his throat close and his eyes welling. When he finally closed the door behind himself, he let out a choked sob. 

“Adrien?” Plagg asked, peeking out from Adrien’s pocket. “What’s wrong?”

“No-nothing!” Adrien said, brushing the tears away. “Nothing, it’s stupid, I’m fine. I’m fine.”

“You sure?” Plagg asked. Adrien was about to answer when the door swung open. It was Nino. Adrien rubbed at his face again, knowing that he couldn’t really be subtle about it, but it least it would distract Nino from noticing Plagg.

“Dude, what’s wrong?” he asked. “Marinette’s freaking out, what just—”

“I’m fine, Nino, I just…” Adrien took a deep breath. “I didn’t expect it, she caught me by surprise, it’s okay, I’m fine.”

“That’s like the fourth time I’ve heard you say that, so I’m sure it’s true.” Nino said. Adrien laughed a little. “But look, dude, crying isn’t really a normal reaction to a girl accidentally confessing to you.” 

“I know, I know.” Adrien buried his face in his hands and leaned against the sink. Which was a terrible idea, because now cold water had soaked through his shirt. “Ugh.” he stood up straight. 

“Am I going to have to get serious to find out what’s wrong?” Nino asked. Adrien raised an eyebrow and Nino sighed. “Alright, then.” Nino twisted his hat around until it was backwards. “Now I’m Serious Nino. Look what you’ve done.”

Adrien laughed. 

“Don’t laugh! I am very serious, and I seriously want to know why Marinette telling you she likes you made you cry.”

“It’s not that she…” Adrien bit his lip. “I cry at lots of things!” it was a weak attempt at deflection and they both knew it.

“That’s true, it’s remarkable. Tell me.”

“She didn’t say she _liked_ me, she said—” Adrien stopped when his voice cracked.

“She said ‘I love you.’” Nino finished.

Adrien swallowed hard. “Yeah. I just…” he squeezed his eyes shut. “It reminded me that I haven’t heard that in a while, okay? It’s not a big deal—”

“That’s…” Adrien looked at Nino. His friend looked almost as upset as Adrien felt. “That is a big deal, Adrien. When…” 

_When was the last time someone told you that they love you?_

Nino didn’t say it, but Adrien knew he wanted to.

“I don’t know. Before my mom left, I guess?” Adrien said quietly. 

Nino was quiet for a minute. “I love you.” he said. 

Adrien blinked in confusion. “What?”

“Not like Marinette does, of course, not romantically, but you’re my best friend, and I care about you, and you deserve to hear it.” Nino said. 

Adrien smiled while tears rolled freely down his cheeks. “Thanks.” he said, and then fumbled to return the sentiment. Nino twisted his hat around before smiling, and Adrien complimented him on his commitment.

“Serious Nino is serious business.” Nino said. “Come here, man.” 

Nino was a good hugger, Adrien thought. But he was worried about squishing Plagg, so he pulled back after a bit. 

“I should go apologize to Marinette, I think.”

“Definitely, she’s freaking out.” 

Adrien winced. “Right. Well, wish me luck. Is lunch over?”

“Not yet, you’ve got time.”

“Okay.” Adrien took a deep breath and he and Nino headed back to their lunch table. Nino dragged Alya away from Marinette without a word, and left Adrien to it.

“Sorry.” he said. 

“No, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you so uncomfortable!” Marinette said.

“You didn’t.” Adrien assured her. He licked his lips nervously. “Did you mean it?”

“I… yeah, I did.” she turned away nervously and blushed. She was cute. Marinette was very cute. It was a dangerous line of thinking, and Adrien felt a bit guilty, even though his Lady wasn’t really his. Then Marinette looked at him out of the corner of her eye, and with a pang of déjà vu he smiled at her. 

“Right, well… do you want to go to that mewvie then?” 

She looked at him sharply. “Mewvie?” she repeated.

Adrien blinked. Possibly he had been thinking about Ladybug a bit too much and had slipped back into Chat Noir-speech. Possibly destiny was conspiring against him. He wasn’t sure. But the look from Marinette, he realized it didn’t matter. 

“Alya's right, it does look cute, and I'm sure you'd enjoy it. No reason you should sit out while we have all the fun, right?”

Marinette smiled. “And I buy the popcorn?”

“I would apurreciate it.” he smiled at her brightly.

Marinette narrowed her eyes. “Fine.” she said. “We should ask Nino and Alya when they’re available.”

“Sounds good.”

“Good.” 

They were both staring at each other now as enticing suspicion hung in the air. It didn’t bother either of them, especially not Adrien. He hadn’t been this happy in a long time. He eventually tore his eyes away from Marinette as the bell rang and he was forced to wrap his sandwich back up and shove it in his bag. He didn’t want to throw it away, but he knew that Plagg would definitely eat it before he could get to it. It didn’t matter. Adrien felt like he could probably feed off this ecstatic feeling alone. 

“Come on, dude, we’re gonna be late!” Nino yelled. 

“Coming!” he and Marinette both yelled back. They looked at each other with a smile, and Marinette nervously tucked her hair behind her ear. Adrien had never noticed her earrings before. They were cute, he thought. They suited her.

They rushed into class together, and he sat down with Nino on his left, Marinette and Alya behind him, and he felt loved. 

And that feeling was made all the better by knowing it was true.

**Author's Note:**

> Apparently, I can still write! That's a relief. After a bit of a disastrous breakdown lmao I am back and swinging, and here's some gosh darn cuties to celebrate.  
> Listen though, listen, listen, platonic friendship love is so fucking important guys, and I love all the fic where Marinette makes him feel happy and like he has someone, but I always wish that there was more recognizing that Nino and Alya are also super important to round that feeling out and make it even better. You can't thrive off of just one person's love, no matter how good it is, so here's to Adrien having really wonderful friendships, too.  
> Also I'm sorry for thwarting the LetAdrienEat2k16 movement, I just didn't want to do this to the poor boy during class. Maybe Plagg won't eat his sandwich. (that's a damn lie Plagg is definitely gonna eat his sandwich)


End file.
